Balloon



J. F.Y COOPER BALLOON INVENTOR an^ws Coo/Jer,

ATTORNEY Passfeder-.12. s, i927. i

'Pear-Emea JAMES F. COOPER, or Annen, omo, :Assenon'r'o".rrern'eoonnnn'ran a autismeA ooMPANY, OFVAKRON, oHvIogvAooRPonATroiroF' oirro.`

nALLooN.

Applicatin fue@ November 3,v 1924-. sei-nino. 747.4975 p presentinvention relates v[to balloons,

and has particular relation. to the 'type known as captive balloons. Aballoon constructed in accordance with the principles of my invention isparticularly adaptedfor advertisingl purposes, that is, the lballoon imay be constructed in the formu of the article which is to beadvertisedfor may be painted to representsuch -article; j

vThe obj ect of my invention consistsin providing a balloon soconstructed that-the enpansion and contraotionfof the'gas in the balloon4will not materially change the shape thereof. l1 f Another obj ect ofmylinvention is Yto provide'a balloon having meansadaptedtoresilientlyvv resist gas pressure within certain Vlimits and to'maintaina smoothl sur-face over substantially theentire larea or' thelballoon underall conditions of atmospheric temperature.

Heretofore balloons as I am aware, allprior constructions have beensubstantially spherical in iiormand ing adequate pressure upon the innersur- .faceV ofthe balloon even when the gas pressure therein has reducedLto afconsiderable extent. I `have also provided novel vmeans forsuspending the Vballoon which assists in maintaining a constant' andluniform 'shape of the balloon. .z Reference may'nowbe hadito theaccompanying drawings which'form a part offthis specification and ofwhich: VFig. v1 is a cross sectional view oa balloonembodying theprincipiesof nayinventionwv.. M

Fig.:2 represents Aanother form-which :my invention'vmay assume; 'L

Fig. 3 :is a cross-sectional:detail vview of the connectingV membersshown in Fig.fm2; and.; i 'i V Fig.l 4L is* axperspectiveview 'of ,thestructureshown in Fig. 2.l f

.In 'practicing my inventionfwprovide an iniiatable annulus 10 Vcomposedof a llight weight fabric which is substantially non-permeableto air,which is substantially circular in cross section andv is similar in formto Van automobile .-tire; L Vlponf the inner periph-fy F eryofthe'annu'luslOareiprovidedtwo cone'` l f .A .1 shaped members lland 12,also composed Referringnow'ltothe embodiment fotmy have" been `used fori display or advertising purposes but,v"s offarA innen Fica oflightweight non-permeable material, l

representing a diskwheel used inconjunction with the tire710,wliich aresecured to the annulus in any suitable manner, as indicated at 13. Theconnection 13 must, oi`.-coursc, be airtight. -The members 10, 11 land12 vconstitute la container for gas and are maintained inl opencommunicationV with each other by means of an opening 1 4 in the innersurface of the annulus 10.l These members may be constructed'o'f theconventional type of balloon fabric. fj ,l f a It is a well known factthat when a' balloon Y .is flying and-[exposed to tliel Aatmosphere*which changes intemperature, such changes.

'led when the gas contracts. `In order to overcome these disadvantages,I-'have provided resilient means which, as indicated infF ig. 1,vconsist-of elastic cords-15, made of rubber or other` suitable material,connected between the members 111v and 12, byf means 'of patches 16secured to the member 12 and toaneyelet 17 provided at the apexof thecone-shaped member 1 1. yAny "convenientfnumber- 4oit these rubber orelastic members may beused.

'The elastic cords or'strandsare-normally under tension, aftertheballoon has been'i'n- Hated with the usual amountfof gas.

It will be `apparel-it from this constructi on thatA increased pressureexerted Awithin the Y balloonY against the inn'erisu'rfaces .ofV themembers Hand-12 will tend to-stretch 'the rubber cords 1.5.', On theotherl hand when the temperature [is lowered and the'gasv contracts",the rubberA c ords'will drafw the members llfand 12'to-ward eachotherand lmaintain the vdesired) pressure' upon the! interior surface ojliythe balloon. 4 Thusthesurfaces ofthe member 11'and theannulus 10 will bekept Vunder substantially. constant pressure and the Vsurface Vofthemember 12 Vwill be moved with lrespect to themember llto allow yfor gasvcontraction Vor expansion. V

A suspension cordf18 isconnected y-to the ap-eX'of-thecone shaped memberV11 by means of a suitable eyelet 19V connected to the eyelet`17fandstabilizing'suspension cordsbr y wires20 are connectedA to thememberlS,and v'to ftheannulusporti'on'of thefballoon, asin'- Y Y dicatedat 21.*

invention illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, I have provided a balloon in theform of an annulus 'similar to that illustrated in Fig.- l, withtheexception that the centra-l portions constituted by the members 11and 12 have been omitted. In this embodiment, an annulus composed of alight-Weight material non- .i serves to complete the gas envelope.

permeable to air, serves to represent a pneumatic tire casing. A flatperipherally eX- tending'm'e-mber 31, also composed of nonpermeablelight-Weight material, is secured in any desired manner to the inneredges of lthe Ymember 30, which represent'the bead porthe casing, asindicated at `32, Vand The member 30 is provided at its edges With tivoannular stiil'ening members 33, of Wire or tions of other suitablematerial, over Which the edges of the fabric of the member 30 arefolded. Disposed intermediate the two stiffening .members 33 isa flatannular elastic pressure compensatingmember 34 composed of sheet rubberVor thel like. Themember 34 is proi vided at each edge with an annularstiifen'- folded. The member 34 is providedv at each ing member 35 overWhich the edges are edge, on the inner side of the stiffening member 35,With a plurality of punched holes or openings 36. Secured to the topedge of the member 30 Vand overlapping the stiffening member 33 is anannular patch or reinforcing member' 37, the inner edge of Which isprovided VWith a plurality of openings 38, to Which the elastic .member34 is secured by means of laces 39. In like manner, an annularreinforcing patch 40 is secured t-o the lower edge of the annulus 30 andis securedto the elastic member 3.4 bymeans of laces 3.9. If desired thelacingmay be omitted and the member 34 secureddirectly to the patches 37and 40 or directly to the annulus 30. Suitably secured to the upper.

means may be employed to connect the members 44 tothe member' 42.

are in turn .secured to anyV desired objectv The lines 44 above vvhiqhitis desired to float the balloon. 1 A

It will be understood, of course, that VWith ay balloon constructed asillustrated in any .of my drawingsJ the outer surface thereof would bepainted to represent a tire tread and the side vwalls .thereof Would be.provided ivith suitable advertising information, such, for example, asthe name ofthe tire being advertised and the name of the manufacturer. l

From foregoing description, it Will parentthat i have Vprovided aballoon of considerable advertising value on account of be ap- P thefact that it is of the configuration of the article to be advertised.Also, it will be apparent that Vby means of the temperature.compensating feature, a balloon constructed in accordance with myinvention Will present a smooth .surface of the desired configuration,irrespective of the changes in ltemperature to Which it maybe subjected.

Although I have illustrated but the preferred forms which myinventionmay Yassume and have described those forms indetail, it vvilly beapparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not solimited but that various modifications and changes may be made thereinWithout depart-ing from. `the spirit offtlieinvention Vor from the scopeof the ap ended claims What f claim is vl. An Vadvertising mediumcomprising a balloon of circular configuration, a thickness vless thanthe radius of the circular coniiguration, and means incorporatedltherein' for preventingchanges in coniiguration thereof with changes intemperature.

2. A balloon comprising an annulus of substantially circularcross-section, and suspension cords connected to the balloon properadjacent the inner'periphery of said annulus, the cords so convergingthat the annulus is adapted to be suspended from a single point.

ico

3. A balloon comprising an annulus of substantiallyA circularcross-section, means associated With the annulus fortensioning theballoon fabric to accommodate expansion or contract-ionv of gas in the.baloon.. l

substantially circular crossssection, and elastic means associatedwiththe annulus for tensioning the balloon fabric regardless of expansion orcontraction of the balloon Igas caused by changesk in temperature. i

J5. A balloon comprising an annulus 'of substantially circularcross-section'and elastic means associated with the inner periphery ofthe annulus for taking up slack in theV balloon fabric and yieldinglyresisting L expansion of the gas in the balloon.

6. A balloon comprising a portion inthe form of an annulus and a stripof elastic material'secured to the inner'. periphery of the annulus. i7. A'balloon comprising an annulus adapted to be inflated, andresilientgas pressure compensating means connected Vat Vspaced points around.theV inner periphery'of said annulus.

and`

4. VA balloon. comprising an annulus lof 1.2.1

isti

8. A balloon comprising an annulus adapted to be inflated, and a stripof resilient mayterial laced at its opposite edges adjacent the innerperiphery of said annulus. y

9. A balloon comprising an annulus adapted to be inflated and a rubberstrip secured to the inner periphery of said annulus.

' l0. A balloon comprising an annulus V adapted to beinflatedystilfennig means sel cured to the inner periphery of saidVannulus, annular reinforcing patches posi- Vtioned adjacent said innerperiphery and an elastic strip Vadapted to be secured ,at its oppositeedges to said patches.

l1. A balloon comprising an annulus adapted to be inflated, stiffennigmeans sef` cured thereto adjacent the inner periphery of said annulus,fabric strip patches eX'- tending adjacent the stfening means and arubber strip adapted to ybe laced at its 0p posite edges to saidpatches.V

12. balloon comprising an annulus, spaced fabric strips secured adjacentthe in ner periphery of said annulusj a. resilient strip provided at itsedges with reinforcing means and lacing means between the oppo- CLI siteedges of the resilient strip and the fabric strips.V

13. A balloon comprising anannulus adapted to be iniated, a strip ofelastic lmaterial secured at its opposite edges to the Y inner peripheryvof the annulus and a patch adjacentL the periphery provided with stiff-.ening means to which suspension cords are attached. Y Y

14. A balloon comprising an Aannulus, a

strip of elastic material adaptedl to vbe laced vJAMEsr. coorna.

